Takuboku Ishikawa

thumb|With the troubled eyes of a youthI enviedBirds flying—Flying they sang. Ishikawa Takuboku (Japanese: 石川 啄木) (February 20, 1886 – April 13, 1912) was a Japanese poet. Quotes Like to a stoneThat rolls down a hill, I have come to this day. A Handful of Sand ("Ichiaku no Suna"), as translated by Shio Sakanishi With the troubled eyes of a youthI enviedBirds flying—Flying they sang. A Handful of Sand ("Ichiaku no Suna"), as translated by Shio Sakanishi Kyoshitsu noMado yori nigeteTada hitoriKano shiro-ato niNe ni yukishi ka na Running awayFrom the window of a classroom,Alone,I lay down among the ruins of a castle. Quoted in Modern Japanese Literature, ed. Donald Keene (New York: Grove Press, 1960), p. 208 たはむれに母を背負ひてそのあまり軽きに泣きて三歩あゆまず tawamure ni haha wo seoitesono amari ni karoki ni nakitesanpo ayumazu Just for fun I put mother on my backbut cried because she was so lightI couldn't even do three steps. Quotes about Ishikawa Ishikawa was a poet of great ability who wanted to develop critical 'realism', but dealt too 'emotively' with human suffering and was isolated from the mainstream of socialist activity. He was passionately in sympathy with the latter, but is marked down as a 'romantic'. E. Stuart Kirby, Russian Studies of Japan: An Exploratory Survey (1981), p. 103 External links Category:Poets from Japan Category:1886 births Category:1912 deaths